It was a game of two halves for Gold Coast on Saturday, but sleek midfielder Luke Russell believes some minor tinkering will help the top eight battlers take that next step in the race to the finals.

“We can’t have these lapses in games; they really cost us,” he told SUNS TV.

“Definitely going to look over the tape on Monday but these things kill you.

“(And) against top sides we can’t afford to have these lapses.”

The reigning premier reminded every footy fan in the country why they were the last team standing in September last season, equally showing they weren’t yet ready to relinquish the #1 tag in the AFL.

Guy McKenna’s SUNS match the Hawks for almost two quarters, but were unable to sustain that effort following the main break.

The Hawks piled on nine unanswered goals throughout a flawless stretch, building an unassailable 59-point lead at three-quarter time.

“We started off really well in the first half, competed well (but) in the second-half we just couldn’t go with them,” Russell said.

“They dictated things out there and it was pretty frustrating but positive thing was we hung in there and managed to kick a couple of goals in the end.”

Russell said the playing group were looking forward to bouncing back with a strong performance against Collingwood this weekend.

“We played really well against them last year; confident going into this week’s game,” he said.

“Hopefully we can take a lot of things out of the game, focus on them this week which will be really important.

“The boys will be ready to take on Collingwood.”